North Korea’s recent establishment of its own time zone called “Pyongyang Time” has caused problems in operating hours of the liaison offices of the two Koreas.

A Unification Ministry official in Seoul said on Tuesday that the South’s liaison office at the truce village of Panmunjeom telephoned its North Korean counterpart at 9 a.m. Monday to open daily operations, only to have the North’s office make a call at 9:30 a.m., saying it would start daily operations according to Pyongyang Time.

The same afternoon, the North demanded that the two sides end daily liaison operations at 4:30 p.m. Korea time.

The official said that under the agreement reached on May 7, 1992, the two Koreas are to operate their liaison offices from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and hold consultations in order to make any changes to operating hours.

The official added that the South will continue to seek consultations with the North on the matter.